Oh nascent soul in a starched Oxford,
know that corporate inevitably grinds you down,
takes your time, your hustle, your ambition,
your early mornings and late nights at the office,
missed time with family and friends.
They steal your health, your waistline,
your smoldering fire, your last spark,
your giddy, hopeful sense of
a boundless future and endless possibility.
You slave away, grind yourself down
so shareholders who swim in pools of more money
than they’ll ever realistically need
can reap a marginal benefit.
And in the end, no matter how much you give them,
even if you give them everything, every last drop,
they’ll just cast you aside like trash anyway.
There’s no more expectation of a gold watch at retirement,
no more decency to the people who keep the profit flowing in.
It’s a machine that chews you up and expectorates you.
It’s a machine that knows no kindness, no mercy.
It’s a machine that feasts on blood and rumbles on eternally.